Ask and You Shall Receive

I spent some time on Saturday with a man that I love and care about very much. In fact, I consider myself very blessed because I have so many friends and family members that I truly love and care about. Every single one of them is a unique and special gift from God in their own way.

So on Saturday, we sat down and talked. This young man is at a point in his life where he needs to make a really important decision, a potentially life changing decision. And I felt like he wanted my advice (although he didn’t ask for it - which is another whole Monday Message in itself).

So we talked about his life and all that he has been through. I brought up his younger years when he was always so happy and outgoing, not to mention gifted both athletically and musically. (The opposite of me!) Then we talked about his years of pain and struggle, his dark years when I worried I might never see him alive again. Which brought us to the last six years, a very bright time in his life. A time of health and happiness. A time of hope and promise. And then we talked about this big decision he needs to make and all I could come up with was… “Maybe you should look at the big picture, the long term pros and cons.”

He was quiet for a moment. Then he looked up and said, “You forgot something important that happened in my life.” I wasn’t sure what he meant, but he explained it with a smile. “You forgot to mention that I got baptized!”

Now I was quiet for a moment. I was quiet because I was thinking how could I forget that he got baptized… I was there! How could I forget about all the hard times he went through for so many years, and how he then formed a personal relationship with God and turned it all around. How could I forget that getting baptized was one of the brightest moments in his life. The… life changing moment!

I thought about it this morning and decided to call him and change my advice. “If you trusted your faith in God enough to get baptized, then simply ask God what He thinks you should do. Ask Him for wisdom. Ask and you shall receive.”

Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.

                                                                        ~ Matthew 7:7